Govt. allows filing of nil monthly return of GST in FORM GSTR-3B through SMS

In its bid to make compliance easier for taxpayers, the Government has allowed filing of nil monthly return of GST in FORM GSTR-3B through SMS. This would substantially improve compliance of GST for over 22 lakh registered taxpayers who had to otherwise log into their account on the common portal and then file their returns every month. According to a statement, the functionality of filing nil FORM GSTR-3B through SMS has been made available on the GSTN portal with immediate effect.

With the new compliance in place, taxpayers with nil liability would need to log on to the GST Portal and may file their nil returns through a SMS. The status of the returns so filed can be tracked on the GST Portal by logging in to GSTIN account and navigating to Services>Returns>Track Return Status. The procedure to file nil returns by SMS is as follows: -

Said Harpreet Singh, partner, KPMG India, “This is a good move by the Government to ease the compliance burden for taxpayers with nil liability. India ranks a lowly 115 out of around 190 countries in ease of paying taxes and such initiatives are definitely needed to make the compliances easy, less time consuming and in line with global best practices.”

Seconding Singh, MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India observed, “Filing nil returns through an SMS would significantly help smaller businesses as they can now focus on the revival of their businesses.”